Last Message
by Marie Nomad
Summary: Otacon struggles to move on after Snake's passing but will a last message help? MGS4 spoilers.


All characters except for Ms. Locke belongs to Konami. This takes place after MGS4.

Last Message

By Marie Nomad

It was cold and drab as Otacon and Sunny waited outside of the lawyer's office. Things had been different since Snake had passed on to the next world. There has not been sunshine since Otacon found Snake's lifeless body in his bed.

"Hal, how are you?" Mei Ling's voice echoed and snapped Otacon back to this dark reality.

"Mei Ling." Otacon reached out and hugged her. He stepped back and let Sunny hugged her. "I don't know how to feel. I keep on expecting to see Snake getting out of bed complaining of about his joints. Or that this was just some bad dream."

"I keep on making eggs for three." Sunny confessed.

"It's normal. Don't worry. Maybe the reading of the will could help you." Mei Ling tried to comfort. Everyone knew that Snake was dying. He was withering away like a cut blue rose trapped in a vase. Still, when she heard about what happened, she kept on thinking that maybe they were wrong but they weren't.

"Yeah."

"How did he manage to arrange for a lawyer to do his will?" Mei Ling wondered. Snake was still a wanted fugitive and he had done everything he could to keep safe. The destruction of the Patriots made things easier and they can finally settle down but people still know about Solid Snake the eco terrorist.

"I don't know. I didn't find out until Ms. Locke called me. He did it just before he died and had Ms. Locke's assistant be a witness."

Gradually, Snake's friends and family started to gather around the two. Otacon could see that Meryl was distraught by Snake's passing as well as Raiden. Their lives were touched by Snake for better or worse. The one who was clearly torn by Snake's passing was Campbell. Otacon could have sworn that he aged another ten years since he saw him last. He didn't blame him; Campbell was the last soldier standing, the last one from Foxhound still alive and not in prison.

They entered the office and a woman stood behind a huge desk. She had long hair tied up in a bun and wore a blue business suit. Otacon had to wonder, what was Snake's final plan?

"Hello, my name is Matilda Locke. David Pliskin had some very specific instructions for this will." Ms. Locke said as she got out a huge envelope. She took out eight envelopes and handed them out to each person. "Do not open this until I said so."

Otacon stared at the envelope. He didn't know what was going on. He wanted to just get it over with and find out what was in this envelope.

"Now, let me read." She took out a sheet of paper and started to read. "Hello, if you are hearing this then that means that I am no longer in this world. I have written messages for each and every one of you in those envelopes. Otacon already owns mostly everything so everything goes to him automatically. However, there are personal items that I wish to give you as symbols of our pasts and your future. You may open your letters in any order. I only ask that you read your letters out loud so that the others can hear them. Ms. Locke has the items right in her desk." The lawyer looked up. "Now, you may open the letters."

"Why don't you go first?" Otacon suggested to Campbell. He wanted to read that letter but he was scared. He wanted to prolong this last message as long as he could. For a little while, he wanted to pretend that Snake were not mere ashes scattered all over Alaska.

With shaking hands, Col. Campbell opened the letter.

_Dear Colonel:_

_You were right; I was not the type to grow old gracefully. I aged like I do everything else, hard and fast. I was grateful that you helped find Liquid Ocelot, it helped put the old ghosts in my head to rest. I also knew before you told me that your marriage to Rosemary was just a sham. I still had some marbles in my head. _

_Even though, Big Boss taught me CQC and was my biological father, you are the one I looked up to. You lived through everything because you were a man first and a soldier second. You cared for me and despite all the times you hide stuff from me, I still trust you with my life. I know that you will be a great grandfather to Meryl's baby. _

_Here is something to remember the times we had. _

Ms. Locke reached into her drawer and handed Campbell a small box.

Campbell opened the box to see the medal. It was still in excellent condition despite the time that passed. It was shaped like a fox's head with a dagger in it's' mouth. "The Fox Medal I gave him after his very first solo mission. He… he kept it all this time. Thank you, Snake." He smiled slightly.

"I'll go next." Meryl volunteered quietly as she opened her envelope.

_Dear Meryl,_

_I had been a part of many wars and killed more people than I could count but there was one thing that I truly regret and that was breaking your heart. You are a wonderful woman and yet, I treated you like glass. My nightmares about Shadow Moses and Liquid didn't help matters either. Perhaps it was for the best, because of what I am. Johnny is a very lucky man for having you as his wife._

_I pray that you will stay with your father. I understand your anger but I know what it was like to hate family. I had spent most of my life hating my biological family, of course, every time I found a relative; they were trying to kill me. Your father loves you. He nearly sacrificed my trust in him to save you. I know how much you wanted to be like me. Don't. I'm a bad man. Here is a gift for you and the baby._

"Here you go." Ms. Locke handed Meryl a paper bag.

Meryl opened the bag and took out a small stuffed husky. "It's adorable."

"I was wondering what he was doing with that." Otacon had to smile at the gift.

"Open your letter, Johnny." Meryl gestured to the envelope in Johnny's hands.

"Okay."

_Dear Johnny,_

_I don't understand you. You are a pathetic fighter and a weak body and yet you managed to survive time and time again without any nanomachines or genetic altering. You have gods watching over you. _

_While you are not the best of fighters, you do have a good heart. You saved my life and I thank you. You also saved Meryl several times. I told Otacon or was that Meryl that if you love a person, you have to be able to protect them and you did that much better than me. Go on protecting Meryl, love her, keep her safe and grounded. Don't keep on pushing that insane luck of yours. Retire while you still have your soul._

_I have something for you._

"Here." Ms. Locke handed him a bag. Johnny cautiously opened it up and blushed. It was a bottle of stomach medicine.

"I haven't had stomach problems in weeks!"

"I think it was his idea of a joke." Meryl fought the urge to laugh.

"I wonder why he thought that I saved him. The closest thing I did to saving him was back in the Middle East and all I did was got him out of the way." Johnny said confused.

"Well, he was in bad shape and if soldiers attacked him… you saved him." Otacon told the young man.

"I guess."

Otacon sighed. "Snake would have thought the same thing. When we were going through Shadow Moses for the second time, we talked about him taking Liquid down while he was in a Hind. He acted like it was a normal thing."

There was a moment of silence as the group thought of Alaska.

"Uhhh… maybe I should go." Mei Ling volunteered.

_Dear Mei Ling,_

_You are cute. You haven't lost that cuteness in the years that passed. It was like time barely touched your features. And yet, you have a deep maturity, you have to if you could manage to seduce that admiral into making you captain of the Missouri. _

_You are very strong. You had the courage and the drive to take an old rusting wreck to rely on in battle when it was falling apart. The ship was in bad condition too._

_Yet, you kept on going and managed to get that crew to fight for you. Without the system, that took a deep power. I believe that in this new world, you will find your place either in combat or in the civilian world. _

_Still waters run deep. You are far deeper than you show or act. I have something to show how deep you are._

Ms. Locke handed Mei Ling a box. Mei Ling opened it up a pendant that has a single grain of rice.

"It's beautiful." Mei Ling held it up to the light. "Wait, it has a Chinese inscription on it."

"What does it say?" Sunny asked.

"It says a smile will gain you ten more years of life." Mei Ling sighed as she put it on. "That sounds like something, I would say."

"I'll go." Raiden offered as he opened the envelope.

_Dear Jack,_

_I can remember back when you were a feminine rookie who were all wide eyed and innocent looking. You looked like one of those girly guys in Otacon's animes. You showed a hard edge on you, especially after you became a cyborg. After all, high heels are very macho looking. _

_Anyway, you and I are similar since we are beasts. I was born a beast and you were taken as a child and transformed into a beast. However, you can be normal again and you did with Rosemary and little John. Do not doubt your ability to love. The love of a child is a powerful thing. You told me after Outer Haven that your heart is false and that you really have no heart. You're wrong. You do have a heart. I'll give you another to show it._

Raiden confused at Ms. Locke who gave him a box. He opened it to reveal a watch with a red heart as a face. "A ticking heart, how cute. He watched the Wizard of Oz, didn't he?"

"He watches a lot of movies." Otacon answered. Snake had seemed to watch a ton of movies in his final days. He had even watched some of the anime movies which Snake commented on the weapons on some of them.

"Let me open mine." Rosemary opened her letter.

_Dear Rosemary,_

_You had helped me a lot in my last mission. Sometimes, just the sound of your voice helped calmed me down. Not only that, you were the only one who wasn't lecturing me about the smoking. You are a strong woman, being able to support Jack after all these years. You even had to make him hate you just so that you could protect him. That took guts. You are a good mother to little John and I believe that you will keep on guiding Jack for years to come. I have something to help you. _

Ms. Locke gave Rosemary a box. Rosemary opened it and frowned. "Cooking for Dummies?! Was I that bad of a cook?!" All at once, Campbell and Raiden looked away from the woman.

After a moment of awkward silence, Sunny spoke up. "Can I open my letter, Uncle Hal?"

"Huh? Of course, Sunny." Otacon felt distracted. After Sunny, he will have to read this letter and admit that this will be his very last letter from his friend.

_Dear Sunny,_

_I'm sorry that I had to die but everyone dies some time in their lives. I remember the first day I saw you when Jack brought you to Otacon and me. At first, I was nervous, I was a soldier, and I didn't know a thing about kids. I knew that you weren't safe anywhere else so we took you in. Ironically, you helped us more than we ever helped you. You made sure Otacon and I eat stuff other than MREs. You make sure we actually take care of ourselves, especially me. You gave us a reason to keep going, to keep living. I should have been more grateful for all that you did but I knew that I didn't have much time left. I thought I was protecting you when I try to keep you away but you just kept on touching my heart. _

_You might think that I had left but I didn't. You may not see me or hear me but I will be keeping an eye on you with your mother and Naomi. Don't worry about me and don't hurry coming to see us. I want to see you grow up into a beautiful woman. You will break a lot of hearts when you grow up. You are a true blue rose._

"Here." Ms. Locke handed Sunny a blue rose bush in a pot.

"Awww!" Sunny gazed at it. She had been trying to grow some but a blue rose bush was very hard to grow. "Thank you."

"We better find a good place to let it grow." Otacon said as he gazed at the rose bush.

"I will." She paused as she looked up at her uncle. "Aren't you going to read your letter?"

"I… I guess." Otacon could feel himself sweating at the idea of reading Snake's last words. It would make everything feel so final, that it would be the end. Snake wouldn't like it if he just kept on delaying in inevitable.

_Dear Otacon,_

_I know that you are mourning my death but let's be realistic, every day is a step closer to death for everyone. I wasn't afraid to die. I hope that my last verbal words with you had been good. But, in case that I was a pile of gibbering mess before I died, I had written them in this letter. _

_I don't want you be depressed that I'm dead. I led a full life with what I had. You may feel like you failed in keeping me healthy but you did save my soul. I had no family that I knew of except you and Sunny. In many ways, you are more of my brother than Liquid or Solidus or even Big Boss. If it weren't for you, I might have given up years ago. You don't think of yourself as strong but I had faced telepaths, cyborgs, and giant robots, you are the strongest person I had ever met. _

_I believe you will keep on going after I'm dead. I believe that you will find your way in this world. Like I told Sunny, I will keep an eye on you wherever I am. So, don't screw up and prove me wrong._

Otacon's lips tightened up as he put down the letter. "I had no idea that he had that much faith in me."

"He does." Ms. Locke handed Otacon a box.

Otacon opened it and lifted up a scrap of metal. "It's part of REX. I can't believe he got a piece of it." He lifted it to see a card taped to it. "A weapon is only as deadly as the person next to it." He read out.

"There's another card in here." Sunny pointed to the box.

"Let me see." Otacon picked up the second card. His face paled as he read out, "By the way, your stepsister's hot?! WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!"

"Ugh. I knew he was getting too serious for that letter." Meryl shook her head. "He had such a stupid sense of humor."

"He thought E.E. was cute." Raiden recalled.

"But… but this was my sister. I know that he loves women but this was E.E." Otacon held his head.

"Maybe, that's why he decided to wait until he's dead before he could tell you." Campbell pointed out.

"ARGH!!! Why did he have to put such a stupid joke as a way to remember him?!" His body shook and tears trickled down his face. "Why does he have to take death so lightly?!"

"That is the way he is." Meryl said. "Hal, we both know what he feels about death."

"I know."

* * *

The sun was starting to come out as Otacon sat outside on a bench with the notes in his hands. "Are you okay?" Mei Ling asked as she sat beside him.

"I don't know. I'm not sure what to do now. Snake is dead." He let the phrase roll off his tongue. It felt strange to admit it verbally.

"I'm sure that you will find your way and remember, you're not alone. You can call or email me whenever you want." Mei Ling offered.

"Thanks. Can you check on Sunny for me?"

"Of course."

Otacon gazed out over the distance and let the air warm around him. "I think that I get it now, Snake. You wanted me to get angry with you, to… break the grieving. I miss you. I'll keep on missing you until I die. I'm not going to try to die for a long time. I am going to keep on living for a long time so don't worry about me. I think that I'll be fine. And… and if you want to date Emma, if you can, go ahead."

"_Thanks."_

There was a loud motor roar. Otacon looked up see Big Mama driving a jeep with Big Boss in front. In the back, there was Solidus, Liquid, and Snake. Snake was young, in his prime, the way he was back when they first met. Otacon and Snake locked eyes and he saluted and the jeep drove off. Otacon ran off after the jeep and it vanished in thin air.

"Goodbye." Otacon whispered as the sun came out over him.

The End


End file.
